BHADRAK/BHUBANESWAR: Biju Janata Dal legislator from Chandbali constituency Byomkesh Ray has landed in soup with a purported audio clip in which he is alleged to be threatening a police officer going viral in social media.
Ray, in a telephonic conversation with Gurucharan Behera, a sub inspector of Bansadar police station, is heard directing the latter to act in a case.
The MLA threatened the police officer to get him transferred to Maoist-hit Motu area in Koraput (which actually is in Malkangiri) if he failed to follow his orders.
“You know about the political problems in the locality but you are deliberately provoking them. You must have heard about Motu. I will go to the DGP and have you dumped there”, the the audio clip revealed.
Behera, on the other hand, said he has informed about the incident to the OIC of Bansadar police station. He said the MLA had threatened him thrice in the last one month over the same demand. Behera said he would continue to do his job sincerely in any place he is posted at.
Meanwhile, the alleged threat of Ray to the police officer rocked the Assembly on Wednesday with the BJP demanding a probe into the matter. Raising the issue during zero hour, Leader of Opposition Pradipta Naik strongly disapproved the inappropriate behaviour of the ruling party legislator to a serving police officer.
He sought a ruling from Speaker SN Patro directing the BJD MLA to behave properly with government servants.
Naik said it is not desirable from a law maker, especially from the treasury benches, to abuse a police office asking him to stay within his limits and threatening him to be dumped at Motu in Maoist-infested Malkangiri district.
Responding to the allegations of Naik, MLA Ray said the Leader of Opposition is misleading the House by producing a distorted version of the conversation.
Admitting that he had a telephonic conversation with the ASI, the BJD MLA described the police officer as corrupt and extorting money from innocent people by using his power.
“I need no lesson from Naik how to talk. I was annoyed with ASI as he has been harassing innocent people,” Ray told mediapersons outside the Assembly.
Naik said the BJD MLA has no right to misbehave with police officer. If he has any complaint against the ASI, he could have taken up the matter before appropriate authority or 5T panel, he added.
Dubbing it as a trivial issue, government Chief Whip Pramilla Mallick said it does not behove the Leader of Opposition to take up such issues in the Assembly.